Posted on 03/11/2008 8:05:52 AM PDT by fweingart
Eliot Spitzer brought his once-promising governorship to a crashing end with a display of recklessness and hypocrisy of such magnitude that you had to question his sanity.
Three words to the man: Just get out.
Spitzer's patronage of a high-priced prostitution service drained what was left of his moral authority, and his blithe willingness to order up a hooker by telephone revealed an abysmal and disqualifying lack of judgment.
With regret, we must say, Spitzer proved an unworthy heir to the office once held by the likes by Teddy Roosevelt, Al Smith, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Herbert Lehman and Thomas Dewey. Even the lesser gubernatorial lights look towering in comparison.
You cannot at once be governor of New York and Client No. 9, as Spitzer is named in the federal criminal case lodged against the Emperors Club prostitution ring.
Hidden behind the brains and brashness that delivered Spitzer into office on a landslide were demons that led him into tawdriness and the nether world of criminality - exactly where no official, let alone New York's governor, belongs.
More often than not, Spitzer was right on the issues. But there's more to public service than a menu of sound policies. Of still greater importance are character and honesty, and in those he proved deeply lacking.
Through his first year in office, Spitzer repeatedly showed a lack of perspective that cast him into free fall in the polls. New Yorkers got a glimpse of the dark side to the white knight and recoiled.
At the start of year two, there was hope Spitzer would recover, having gained wisdom from his freshman flop. No such luck.
Instead, Spitzer sank to the level of a punch line - the man of rectitude who holds others righteously to stern account while doing as he smarmily well pleases.
As a prosecutor, Spitzer came down on prostitution rings, proclaiming them a scourge. As a john, he skulked about to patronize an operation that has been charged with violating federal anti-prostitution and money-laundering statutes.
And, think what you will about prostitution, Spitzer is not the perpetrator of a victimless offense.
He has a family, a wife, who looked crushed yesterday, and three teenage daughters. Their torments will be private. Spitzer spoke yesterday of working to rebuild his family's trust. They are wished well in the endeavor.
For the public, there will be no repair of trust. That bond was irrevocably broken by Spitzer's disregard of the standards he demanded of others, starting with respect for the law.
And, after only 14 months, the governorship of Eliot Spitzer is chalked up as a failure. He has but one official act left: resignation.
... and make it quick
There was an enormous amount at stake for the public when Eliot Spitzer placed the calls for which he will forever be known as Client No. 9.
New York is facing a very long list of critical decisions that demand speedy action by a strong governor. And it's at risk of grinding to a halt.
The state's $124 billion budget is more than $4 billion in the red - with the deadline for passage only 21 days away.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is pressing for approval of a $29 billion building fund that would determine the shape of mass transit for years to come - along with fares.
Mayor Bloomberg's congestion-pricing proposal is rising swiftly to the top of the city and state agendas with an uphill battle for passage in the offing.
The governor's office and City Hall are in end-game negotiations with developers who have floated a plan to build a new Madison Square Garden and two monumental train stations on opposite sides of Eighth Ave.
The state's doctors are being crushed by escalating malpractice insurance premiums and are demanding relief in Albany.
Then comes April - and the agenda grows.
The subprime crisis persists, with thousands of New Yorkers facing foreclosure. Spitzer had taken the lead on addressing the damage rippling through the financial industry. The question is: Now what?
He made a star witness before Congress on the roots of the crisis - on the same visit to Washington that he allegedly ordered up a hooker who benefited to the tune of $4,300. It's not likely that Spitzer will be invited back to testify anytime soon.
The bottom line is that right now no one is in command.
That's an intolerable state of affairs and it must come to an immediate end.
Inevitably, power must be handed to Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who will be asked to lead under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
Spitzer has done Paterson no favors. All the best to him.
Prostitution bad for society but good for DemocRAT governor who is just another bottom-feeding political carp like Hillary and Hussein.
“...character and honesty...”
Wait those are supposed to matter!?
Then why aren’t the Clintons in jail rather than a few months away from the WH again?
“Of still greater importance are character and honesty, and in those he proved deeply lacking.”
So did Bill Clinton, but Democrats defended him and defended him and defended him and defended him...
I mean Bill addressed the American people on primetime AND LIED, not to mention lying under oath.
Will Governor Spitzer submit to a swabbing of his cheek for DNA if he “merely” pleads guilty to a misdemeanor?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/14/nyregion/14dna.html?ref=todayspaper
New York Plan for DNA Data in Most Crimes, May 14, 2007
“The governor’s proposal would order DNA taken from those found guilty of any misdemeanor, including minor drug offenses, harassment or unauthorized use of a credit card, according to a draft of his bill. It would not cover offenses considered violations, like disorderly conduct.”
Yeah, I thought the Democrats spent the better part of the Clinton term trying to convince the American people that character and honesty didn’t matter. What a nutso world we live in...
You cannot at once be governor of New York and Client No. 9
Obviously “twiddle dick” thought his Client No. 9 name was important enough to risk his Governor of New York name! Nice gamble Asshat!....YOU LOSE!
Client 9 of the “Emperor Has No Clothing Club”!!!!! For us it’s SPITZMAS!!!!
Wonder if Wanker Spitzer pimped his ride?
yes.
***ABC’s Good Morning America made sure to bring up Bill Clinton and McGreevy, several Republicans and the fallen Evangelicals to soften the political hit on the Democrats.***
True, but as governor, Spitzer surely knew about the Man Act, enacted back in 1910, yet he broke the law by having the woman transported across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. He also got himself involved in an FBI action involving bank transactions. He was stupid and arrogant.
It is Spitzmas.
The inimitable Alan Dershowitz was trotted out on TV to declare that (1) this was a victimless crime, (2) that no other country in the Western World would give it a second thought, (3) that the news should be reported on page 37 of section B, and (4)in any case, the Mann Act is a dead letter, never prosecuted. So, let’s get on to important things. Is Britney pregnant?
Yeah, and I bet during the Larry Craig case ABC’s Good Morning America was calling for his immediate resignation too. Spitzer is not involved in garden variety cheating; he was involved in the transport and trafficking of human beings - a felony.
Deshashitz is a tiring old prop that the leftist media let out of his cobweb-draped coffin to spout a few dusty old words to prop up the empty suits.
If he wanted to meet girls he could have simply blown himself up.
The media is going to have a hard time getting pass the fact that Spitzer was 1)prosecuting prostitution rings, while at the same time 2) obtaining services from prostitution rings. The hypocrisy is outrageous.
Not to mention Brit Hume says the details yet to come out regarding client No. 9 are “lurid” and “devastating.” In other words, Spitzer is some kind of sick pervert.
Every article I’ve read today - around 8 of them - makes a point of mentioning the irony of Spitzer busting prostitution rings as AG. This op-ed is excellently written, BTW. Only one I’ve read today that makes the case against Spitzer using the consequences to the people of New York State if he hangs on.
If old Wide Stance had any dignity he would have ate a bullet at his desk like the warden in Shawshank Redemption. The crime angle in Spitzer’s case is pretty weak. But he’s higher profile than our scumbags Vitter & Craig, so he will pay a higher price. Not to mention his entire rep is built on being Mr. Clean.
She was waiting for him near the king-sized bed in Room 871, a stunningly sexy, petite brunette who called herself “Kristen.”
She knew Client-9 had paid good money - $4,300 - for what would be their few hours of steamy sex together at Washington, DC’s historic Mayflower Hotel on the day before Valentine’s Day, in a deal brokered several days earlier by her pimp back in New York.
When her excited, distinguished-looking john arrived to the cozy room, she text-messaged her madam to say he was there.
Its better for us if he hangs on. A long drawn out impeachment process would be a huge distraction for the Dems. Getting rid of Spitzer and Hillary is like trying to shove rabid alley cats down a garbage chute as they claw anything they can touch.
Hardly. Its solid and very real.
Did you know that every person in our military and government that travels overseas is expected to undergo annual training in trafficking in person's training in order to impress how illegal it is?
How long before the chick turns up and starts spilling her guts?
It’s beyond that, because he confessed, but he could have claimed that he was doing his own investigation.
so how did we find out he was “client-9” and who are 1-8?
All anyone has to do is look at the video of his "apology" and see his wife's face to know this crime was not victimless. And all three of his girls are old enough to know that's going on. I feel very sorry for them, for the humiliation they hare and are going to continue to suffer.
Oh yes, definitely. And I believe he will try to hang on. It would be out of character for him to meekly resign without some show of resistance. I have despised him for years, and plan on enjoying the show. Hope it lasts a full season ;- )
so how did we find out he was “client-9” and who are 1-8?
___________________________________________________________
Why do I suspect both Bill and Hillary could be clients 1 and 2?!!!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
A song I remember from when I was a kid:
Hit the road, Jack and don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more. hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back no more.
He is, like most big government worshipping democrat socialists, a hypocrite and an inherently evil man.
No sex there.
Bill Clinton never paid. He either raped his victims or impressed them with the majesty of the presidency....then retreated to the bath where he finished himself off.
He, too, was nothing but a wanker.
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